• • • RENEWABLE TECHNOLOGY • • •
The iQ-R PLC provided the Orbital engineering team with a user-friendly, intuitive programming environment in GX Works3, whilst the touchscreen interface of the GOT HMI allowed for easy navigation for critical viewing and trending parameters. With security one of several key design criteria for the new unit, the PLC ensured any changing of control parameters, such as PID tuning, was only available to users with the correct access. A final design criteria was ensuing the control system could be automated, with no manual intervention required to reset the grid entry unit. Not only could the iQ-R PLC facilitate this, but in doing so Orbital became the only manufacturer to ensure gas flow automatically resumed during normal operations after events such as gas quality excursions.
Ian Allcock, Orbital’s Lead Digital Technology Engineer, was closely involved in engineering the new biomethane grid entry unit: “A major challenge faced by our original control system was data collection and transfer. In contrast, the Mitsubishi Electric system made it much easier to collect and record data, logfiles were more reliable and the PLC and HMI were more robust.” However, the biggest difference for Orbital customers lay in the web-based capabilities of the GOT HMI, which enabled a tangible improvement in alarming and troubleshooting.
“Unlike the previous system, the web-based platform allowed multiple stakeholders to securely login at the same time – either locally or remotely via a VPN. This made fault diagnosis much faster,” Ian continues.
“It even helped us make more data available to the customer. We could now identify what caused an alarm to trip by taking a snapshot of all the data at the point it tripped. For example, if a valve shut
off, we could look at the data snapshot and work backwards to identify the cause, such as the calorific value being too high. Ultimately, this led to a much faster fix for the customer and a definitive reduction in downtime.”
Orbital has subsequently installed its new biomethane grid entry unit at 10 sites throughout the UK.
Whilst the Mitsubishi Electric control system has improved the overall usability of the unit, it has also helped streamline maintenance and service activity.
“Because of Mitsubishi Electric’s global presence, it is very easy to source parts throughout the UK, even for remote sites,” concludes Chris. “There’s also a much higher number of software engineers who are familiar with the technology compared to other systems, so people can come in and hit the ground running.” For more information on Mitsubishi Electric’s industrial control and visualisation portfolio, please visit:
https://gb.mitsubishielectric.com/fa.
electricalengineeringmagazine.co.uk ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • NOVEMBER 2024 35
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